NEW DELHI: The Bar leaders of six associations of different high courts on Thursday met the CJI and other Collegium members Justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, Abhay S Oka and Vikram Nath, who assured consideration of their demand to revoke transfer of Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma.
The judge faced an in-house inquiry after discovery of cash pile on March 14 during a fire incident at his official residence here.
Bar Leaders Oppose Justice Varma’s Transfer, Seek CJI’s Intervention
Several bar associations gave a memorandum to the office of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna seeking withdrawal of Collegium's recommendation to transfer Justice Varma to the Allahabad High Court.
Justice Varma had earlier claimed no cash was ever placed in the storeroom either by him or any of his kin.
On Thursday, the bar associations of high courts of Allahabad, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Lucknow submitted a memorandum to the CJI's office.
Judicial Controversy: Bar Associations Challenge Justice Varma’s Repatriation
A joint statement by bar associations said that they requested the Chief Justice and the Collegium to withdraw the transfer of Justice Varma and to withdraw all administrative work in addition to the judicial work, which is already withdrawn.
The bar bodies have also raised the issue of alleged tampering of evidence at Justice Varma's official residence, where burnt wads of cash were purportedly discovered on March 14 during a fire incident, and questioned the on-registration of an FIR in the incident.
"To set the criminal law in motion as is applicable to any government servant. According to the report of the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, somebody removed the articles from the premises on March 15, 2025, and had the criminal law been set in motion, the evidence would not have been destroyed," the statement said.
The bar bodies said that in these kinds of crimes, there would be involvement of others, and non-registration of a case would adversely affect their prosecution. The bar leaders were on the premises of the apex court to seek an appointment with the CJI.
Allahabad High Court Bar Association went on an indefinite strike from March 25 to protest the proposed repatriation of Justice Yashwant Varma to his parent High Court.
The apex court Collegium, against the backdrop of this controversy, recommended the repatriation of Justice Varma, from whom work was withdrawn by the Delhi High Court following a directive from the CJI, to his parent Allahabad High Court.
On March 22, the CJI constituted a three-member committee to conduct an in-house inquiry into allegations and decided to upload the inquiry report of Chief Justice D K Upadhyay of the Delhi High Court. Allahabad High Court Bar Association president Anil Tiwari said the CJI assured bar leaders that their demand for withdrawal of the Collegium's recommendation to transfer Justice Varma would be considered.
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